Jail inmate charged for contact with former cell mate

• ‘Boarder’ Goetz, 31, incarcerated since 2006 on two Hennepin County convictions

by Jim Boyle

Editor

An inmate at the Sherburne County Jail has been charged with criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree.

John Allen Goetz, 31, is accused of touching the private parts of a 18- or 19-year-old cell mate while sharing cell No. 221 with him at the Elk River jail, according to the criminal complaint filed on April 1 in Sherburne County 10th District Court.

Goetz has been incarcerated in the jail since Jan. 30 and is not scheduled to be released for another five years. He is a “boarder” in Sherburne County Jail from the Minnesota Department of Corrections. He was sentenced on June 2, 2006, in Hennepin County for two counts of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree. His anticipated release date is currently May 6, 2019.
Goetz

He was a cell mate with the victim from Feb. 27 to March 6, according to the criminal complaint.

The victim went to corrections staff on March 25 to report that the defendant had touched his privates almost every night while he was in the top bunk of their cell trying to sleep, the complaint said.

He reported to corrections that he would awaken to the abuse but be too afraid to say anything. So he said he would pretend to be asleep and move or turn over so the defendant would stop.

The victim also reported being asked questions by the defendant about his private parts and told by the cell mate he would get cookies if he allowed him to perform sex acts on him, according to the complaint.

The victim said he declined and told the defendant to stop on other occasions when he would touch him on other areas of his body.

The victim asked to be moved to a different cell and that occurred on March 6.

In a post-Miranda statement, Goetz reportedly admitted to “feeling up” his former cell mate two to three times while they shared a cell, the complaint said. He also said his cell mate was sleeping when he did it.

Goetz denied doing it for sexual gratification. He called the fellow inmate “cute and young” and said that he wanted pleasure, the criminal complaint said.

Goetz faces more than 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine if convicted of the offenses.